Not really proud of it, but here ya go.

Chapter 10

The first time Joice left, I wasn't really expecting her to come back, despite the fact that she seemed to be enjoying herself.

She would leave and come back frequently. Some times for more than a day. I'd ask her where she went, curious, but she'd give me a lame, vague answer. I'm kinda getting tired of it. She's hiding something, but what?

It's late - quite dark outside, when Joice comes back once more. I'm upstairs, but when I came down, she'd laid her gun on the table and fallen straight asleep. I don't really know what to do at that point, so I just threw a blanket over her and went to bed. The next morning came quickly; I made breakfast like a pro and waited for her to wake up.

She slid into the seat next to me, looking groggy. "Hey." She mutters.

"Hey." I smiled, "Where've you been?" It's worth a shot.

"Oh, here and there..." She lies again. Then, I notice something a little bit off.

She has a sunburn.

Where the fuck do you get a sunburn in this area? "Joice... you have..." I pointed to her face. "You have a sunburn on your face." She froze, poking her face.

"Where would you get a sunburn?" I asked honestly. Seriously, where?

"You must be dying of curiosity." She grins, but I'm not amused this time. If she was trying to make a joke out of this, I'm not laughing at it.

This kind of thing continues on for ages. Joice leaves, and comes back some time later with minor injuries or something. Once she even came back with frostbite - She'd gone up north or something, she didn't say. And still she keeps it all a secret. This is so stupid.

Now it's the late afternoon, and Joice's frostbite just healed. Her ears finally look normal, heh... Someone knocks on the door, and I can see her about to answer it when I take the liberty to answer it myself.

Oh crap. It's that guy from... how many months ago? He's still drunk; I can smell the beer. Slowly, very very slowly, I shut the door in his face and put my back against it. Shit, what does he want now? How can you hold a grudge for this long, really?

"Who was that?" Joice asked, and I had to answer.

"Nobody." I nodded, until he banged on the door.

"Open the door, asshole, before I break it down!" God, this guy's annoying...

I thought about it, my hands slipping on the doorknob. I could open it and pummel him, but I don't think that'll help my status, or Joice's for that matter. And I don't want a bloody mess on my front door. Too many problems to deal with already, yeah? I opened the door, my face becoming stonelike. "No jazz before the rumble, huh?" He smirked, "Well it's over."

Well screw that.

"I'm not going to fight you." I monotoned. He laughed a bit. "Yes you are, Mr. Can't Hurt a Fly, I'm not giving you a chance this ti-" He turned, cutting his sentence short. I didn't need to turn to see that he was looking at Joice. I bet he's lookin' her over right now. I can feel my face reddening with some kind of rage. "You got someone, eh? Well I figured it'd be some stupid bitch, but I never thought you'd take her."

Excuse me? Stupid? He has no idea who he's -

"I'm not stupid," Joice growled, and I could feel the tension seeping out of her voice like lava flowing down a volcano.

"I'm not talking to you, bitch." He spat. Uh oh, I hope things don't get worse, yeah?

She slugged him hard! I heard the crack of bone in his cheek, and it's a miracle he didn't spit blood as she looked at him, boring holes into his soul. He stared back with a shocked expression plastered onto his face, and she scowled. "So where've I seen you before, huh?" She seethed. Her words could freeze blood, I'm sure. "What," He smiled, "You don't recognize me?"

Yeah, don't go there.

"I certainly recognize you." He laughed, his eyes falling downward. I heard that crack again as Joice punched him again, letting the matter drop as she walked off. "Kay, why not fight the bastard." She said, "You fight him before I kill him, why don't you?"

Immediately he punched my gut, sending me staggering backwards before I lashed out with my foot and got him hard in the face. He got blood on my carpet, the bastard, and pulled a switchblade from somewhere I won't ponder on for long - there was no time to think as he slashed at me, nicking my face a little bit. I winced and slugged him across the jaw.

The fighting continued for a bit until he hacked off, blood smeared across his face. He started out the door, and I kicked him the rest of the way.

"Yeah, fuck off, loser!"

Oh jeez... I'm surrounded by some really jacked up losers, huh?